U.S. annual per capita use of onions increased 50 percent during the last 20 years. To meet the domestic demand and population growth, as well as export demand, U.S. producers doubled production. Western States increased their share of total production. Grower and retail onion prices fluctuated widely due to changes in shortrun supply; however, during the last 15 years grower prices have remained relatively high. The quantity of U.S. onion imports has increased faster than exports during the last 20 years, but the balance of trade in value tenns was about equal during the early 1990's. This bulletin provides detailed statistics on onions for the United States and the world for 1960-93. Statistics on U.S. area, yield, production, and value are presented by State. World onion area, production, and trade are presented by country. Other statistics refer to domestic shipments, arrivals in selected U.S. cities, wholesale and retail prices, price spreads, and chemical fertilizer and pesticide applications.
